The alien spaceship landed firmly on the parched land that has been extremely dry since rain had not fallen for a long time on the planet. It was a gray, featureless landscape, and the ground was rather rocky.

Xabiere beamed as they had finally reached their destination. It took a lot of patience on his part, but he made it through. With the guidance of his Amma Cena, and Murdock's persistence, Xabiere was proud that he could brag about his voyage to Pluto's leader, Fritz. That is, if they could ever make it back.

Xabiere placed his chubby hands upon his forehead to wipe away the sweat that formed above his brow. He didn't realize how much perspiration ended up on his body throughout the trip, because he fidgeted numerous times.

Safe and sound; at least for now.

Delighted that everything he planned was going in his favor, Xabiere stepped on the brakes to park his spacecraft. Before pressing the button to lower the stairs, he stood up to view the scenery through the window.

Noticing the rugged terrain and how arid the environment must be, Xabiere decided not to step foot outside without his space shoes he tucked away for emergency.

Xabiere didn't  forget his friend either as he brought him an extra pair to wear, even though they might not be Murdock's size. And as Xabiere predicted, his child-like companion hopped like a kangaroo when he saw them as he was eager to leave the vessel.

"Well, Xab. What are you waiting for? Let's go!" Murdock pleaded as he touched Xabiere's back.

Turning around to face him, Xabiere sternly warned his friend to wait.

"Not so fast Murdock! We need to be careful, as this is new terrain. This will not be like the planet Earth where it was a grassy area. It looks unexplored as the soil doesn't have any creases. Thus, it has not been disturbed. But we do not know if there are any other terrestrials here, so stay close to me. We might not be alone in Planet Flora."

Remembering to follow Fritz's orders in naming this new orbit after the royal Amma, Xabiere told himself to do that as soon as possible as he might get reprimanded.

Xabiere focused back to reality, as he gave his friend the extra pair of space shoes he stored away. Murdock tried to fit his round feet in them, but the oblong shoes wouldn't adjust.

"I don't think they fit, Xabiere, do you have anything else?"

Shaking his head no, Xabiere knew ahead of time that they might run into a problem. They were clown shoes that he found lying abandoned in a circus tent. Xabiere figured that if the Earthlings weren't using them, he'd keep them as souvenirs. He didn't want to think of it as stealing, but rather an act of borrowing them.

"No problem, Dock. I tweaked them a bit, especially for you. I can resize them with this instrument. I think it's called a shoe horn."

He placed it inside the clog, and widened it for Murdock's stubby feet. As the shoes finally fit, the two attempted to walk down the stairs after Xabiere grabbed Pluto's purple flag.

"Watch your step Murdock, the ground looks super rocky!"

Listening to his friend's advice, Murdock stayed close by holding on to Xabiere's paw.

"I didn't mean to stick that close Dock, but I guess holding hands will do. Just don't do anything crazy." Xabiere winked at him while he kept focused on his footings. His antenna signals could track some eerie life form nearby and wasn't willing to be somebody else's cuisine for the night.

However, Murdock let go of Xabiere's paw after he coughed a hairball. Thus, the two aliens lost track of each other as darkness fell.

Aloof of his whereabouts, a petal touched Murdock's back. Thinking it was Xabiere playing around with him, he chuckled.

"Xab, stop that. That tickles."

"Glad to know it does," a female voice responded.

That's not Xabiere's voice!

Alarmed that it wasn't who he thought it was, Murdock froze. He tried to holler for help, but couldn't. It was as if someone put a spell on him.

"Let me see your face, Darling" Poison Ivy used her sexy voice to lure Murdock to come closer to her.

Automatically, the Plutonian obeyed and faced the Venus Fly Trap.

Poison Ivy allowed her tongue to salivate.

"You're not a human as Thorn forecasted, but you look tasty enough to eat, fellow alien!"

What!

Finding his voice again. Murdock screamed and ran to find Xabiere.

"Xabiere! Where are you?"

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Training Day cont. for the Earthlings

Panting after doing several rigorous exercises, Harley placed her arm over her forehead. "Marti, you think we can still do this?"

Martina sighed. The last day of training in the SPANA Training Center included not only aerobics, but punches, running and numerous kicks. The robots she met the day before were programmed to fight each of them in the gymnastics room, causing the crew to each tumble upon a mat.

"I know hun, this is not what I imagined either. What did Mr. Lewis have in mind? I don't think we'll be using these techniques up in Space. However, it's getting us fit." She looked at her now firm torso and smiled. "I don't want to do this either Harley, but if this is the only way to go on, then, so be it."

Turning to her side, Martina looked at her acquaintance. Bonnie forgave her for what she and Harley said earlier about Clyde, so as for now the two continued to talk to each other.

"Bonnie, how are you doing? Are we still on good vibes?"

Bonnie chuckled as she heard Martina's question.

"I'm doing well, wish I can say the same thing for my boyfriend. Look over there."

The blonde pointed to Clyde who was still lying down flat on the mat as he ached with pain.

"Poor baby!" Martina and Harley both chimed in. "Do you think these courses were too much for him?"

Bonnie shook her head. "No, he'll be alright. We used to run continuously to evade police officers, so I'm sure he'll make it. Just let him rest for a bit."

Lending a hand for Clyde to stand up, Bonnie hugged her boyfriend. She thanked him for even trying these exercises, no matter how hard it tested his stability.

"Where's Roman, Harley?" Martina asked as she looked around the room.

"I think he finished early, the muscle man he is." Harley chortled. "Heard he accidentally beat up one of the robots to pieces and Mr. Lewis suspended him from continuing. But don't worry, my brother will be boarding with us on the rocket tomorrow. Roman's probably sulking on his bunk bed. You want to visit him together?"

Martina shook her head yes. Since the crew picked her to be their leader for the space voyage, she wanted to make sure every one in the team was ready for the challenge.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Knocking on the door where Roman resided, both his sister and Martina came in to cheer him up.

"Hi, bro! Heard what you did to Astro the Star dog, what did you actually do to him?" Harley asked while she sat next to her brother on the bed.

With his head still facing down, Roman responded. "I punched the robotic dog cause it was going to bite my rear! Now how was I supposed to know Astro's fake sharp teeth weren't going to actually hurt me. Guess I went too far and that's why Mr. Lewis ended my training."

Feeling sorry for Roman, Martina patted his back. "There, there, Roman. Don't be so hard on yourself. I'm sure that you did not mean to wreck his robotic dog. I mean how much damage was it?"

"Astro stopped functioning as the pieces broke into jigsaw puzzles."

Roman's response shocked both girls.

Jigsaw puzzles? The robots are just made out of humanoid puzzles? What a scheme Mr. Lewis. Couldn't you do any better?

Martina laughed as she figured out a way to get back at the administrator.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

The Next Day

"Lastly, I give you this rolled up flag of the United States Miss Wade. I want you to hammer it down in the soil as a commemoration that we ... um your team placed a stake on Decaorb."

Garreth Lewis was proud that his work was finally done and that he could demolish all the robots that he created, except for the fact that he was missing a piece of Astro's tail.

"Looking for this, Mr. Lewis?" Martina held a jigsaw puzzle in her hand.

Surprised that she even found it, he gasped. But before he could say another word, Martina motioned him to be quiet. It would be her little secret, as she knew the old man had skeletons hidden in the closet as well.

"Sometimes, Mr. Lewis, we don't need to tell everyone our secrets. If you want to keep it confidential, you must also hide it from yourself." Martina winked at the administrator before joining her friends.

And once everyone shook the administrator's hand , the mechanical stairs to the Apollyon rocket automatically opened and the five members climbed aboard.